True Prosperity

A Reflection on the Gospel for Sunday, August 3rd, 2025:
​Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Luke
12.13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But Jesus said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?”

And Jesus said to the crowd, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.”

Then Jesus told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’

“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

Pause. Pray. Reflect.

By societal standards, I’m finally in a season of life where I should be setting aside more money for retirement while also living a more financially relaxed life. I should be buying name-brand groceries and nicer cuts of meat. I should be, in other words, some version of prosperous. But every time it feels like I might be getting ahead, prosperity passes me by. An appliance fails. The van needs a repair. The kids simultaneously outgrew all their clothes. The dollars in my pocket always stretch just far enough, but our savings don’t grow.

From the perspective of society, I am a failure. I am not accumulating and cushioning myself with wealth enough for many seasons. I have not done enough. Not strived hard enough. Not sacrificed enough to ensure the almighty dollar saves me.

In times such as these, Jesus’ parable is like a balm to my soul. It is a reminder of the purpose under which I have always lived my life. I almost died on my 16th birthday, marking my coming of age with a strong sense that no day is promised. No future is owed to me. I have already snatched life from the jaws of death. I am made for life—life eternal—not to be a slave to capitalism’s demands and lies.

I am not called to spend my life on the things that don’t keep and won’t save me. I am not called to surrender myself to the false god of money. 

Instead, Jesus invites me to a radically different life. One that invites me to surrender every part of my life. To trust He will give me my daily bread. To believe that I am not defined by my possessions or accomplishments but instead by my dignity as a child of God.

I trust in His provision and care. Through His goodness and the love of those He sent into my life, my family has never spent a day without our daily bread, shelter, and all that we truly need. Even when we have had to tighten our belts or accept charity—a true challenge of humility—we have found great comfort in the love of God. We have lived in God’s goodness. We have thrived spiritually when our bank account was squeezed.

In some seasons, I have been the recipient of charity and kindness. In other seasons, I have been blessed to be God’s love and provision to another person. In both situations, I have been truly blessed. In both situations, I was embracing the Holy Spirit and rejecting the false prosperity of the world. True prosperity lies in a heart overflowing with God’s love—a heart that can both receive and give. Those are the treasures we store up for Heaven. Those are the gifts that no stock market change, tariff, or bill collector can take.



Stéphanie Potter

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